The present invention relates to machine control, and more particularly to a touch pad machine control which remotely provides the feel of hands on control of a machine.
In many applications it is necessary to control a machine from a remote location. Such control is exercised via push buttons and rotary knobs. For example in a video tape editing suite a video tape recorder (VTR) may be positioned by running it forward or backward at different speeds to locate a particular video frame. This positioning is done while viewing a video monitor to determine when the particular frame is located under the read head of the VTR. Manually the positioning could be done by spinning the tape reels by hand, initially at a high rate of speed until close to the desired video frame, and then at a slower speed as the video frame is approached. It may be necessary to make slight adjustments back and forth, "jogging", to position the VTR exactly at the desired video frame.
This positioning of the VTR may also be done remotely using corresponding push buttons and a rotary knob. Movement of the rotary knob simulates the manual rotation of the reels of the VTR. The use of the rotary knob to locate and position a desired video frame on a video tape under the read head of a VTR requires manual dexterity of a higher order than the manual manipulation of tape reels. Also the rotary knob has to perform different functions which requires push buttons to select the desired knob function. The result is a certain amount of unnatural feel to the positioning of the video tape.
Touch pads of various sorts have been implemented in many applications for controlling cursors on a computer terminal, selecting functions, line drawing and the like. Such use of touch pads is illustrated by the KB 5153 Touch Pad Keyboard manufactured by Key Tronic of Spokane, Wash.
What is desired is a means to control a machine using a touch pad to provide to the operator a natural, hands on feeling of motion.